16 Days of Activism: Unmasking the Many Faces of Violence

The Sixteen Days of Activism kicked off today at the ITVET in Belize City. The National Women’s Commission and Special Envoy for Women are Children launched the event under the theme, “From Awareness to Accountability Unmasking the Many Faces of Violence.”  The sixteen days of activism is used to raise awareness and create a call of action to eliminate all forms of gender-based violence. We spoke with Cynthia Williams, the Executive Director of N.W.C., who tells us more about how they are using this year’s theme to tackle gender-based violence.

Cynthia Williams

Cynthia Williams, Executive Director, NWC

“It is an opportunity for the sector to increase and strengthen the work that they do throughout the year. This year’s theme focuses on individual roles of everyone. So, out theme is ‘From Awareness to Accountability, Unmasking the many faces of violence.’ This theme allows us to really expand the conversation beyond domestic violence. Often domestic violence and gender-based violence is used synonymously. So, we want to be able to help people to understand that when we speak about gender-based violence, we speak about sexual assault and abuse of children; sexual harassment in the work place and the street as well, even though we don’t have legislation that protects people from that. We also speak about behaviours that perpetrate myths, perpetrate norms and attitudes that lead to gender inequality. So, this year, what we are trying to do is to refocus the conservation and have people to be able to have uncomfortable discussions about how they also help to perpetrate the various forms of gender based violence.”

If you are interested in attending one of the Sixteen Days of Activism’s events, you can check out a barbershop forum at the Biltmore on Tuesday morning at eight-thirty. That forum, entitled “Engaging Men and Boys to help combat gender- based violence,” is being held in partnership with the Spouses of CARICOM Leaders Network Action, the British High Commission, the United Nations Gender Theme Group and the National Women’s Commission.